Idioms for wear

    wear thin,
    1. to diminish; weaken: My patience is wearing thin.
    2. to become less appealing, interesting, tolerable, etc.: childish antics that soon wore thin.

Origin of wear

before 900; (v.) Middle English weren to have (clothes) on the body, waste, damage, suffer waste or damage, Old English werian; cognate with Old Norse verja, Gothic wasjan to clothe; (noun) late Middle English were act of carrying on the body, derivative of the v.; akin to Latin vestis clothing (see vest)

OTHER WORDS FROM wear

wear·er, noun re·wear, verb, re·wore, re·worn, re·wear·ing.

British Dictionary definitions for wear down (1 of 4)

wear down

verb (adverb)

to consume or be consumed by long or constant wearing, rubbing, etc
to overcome or be overcome gradually by persistent effort

British Dictionary definitions for wear down (2 of 4)

Wear
/ (wɪə) /

noun

a river in NE England, rising in NW Durham and flowing southeast then northeast to the North Sea at Sunderland. Length: 105 km (65 miles)

British Dictionary definitions for wear down (3 of 4)

wear 1
/ (wɛə) /

verb wears, wearing, wore or worn

noun

Derived forms of wear

wearer, noun

Word Origin for wear

Old English werian; related to Old High German werien, Old Norse verja, Gothic vasjan

British Dictionary definitions for wear down (4 of 4)

wear 2
/ (wɛə) /

verb wears, wearing, wore or worn

nautical to tack by gybing instead of by going through stays

Word Origin for wear

C17: from earlier weare, of unknown origin

Idioms and Phrases with wear down (1 of 2)

wear down

Diminish, weaken, or tire by relentless pressure, as in The heels of these shoes are quite worn down, or Her constant nagging about getting a new car wore down his resistance. [First half of 1800s]

Idioms and Phrases with wear down (2 of 2)

wear